Monday, December 23, 2013

Wrapping Gifts and Throwing Money Away

As Christmas in in a couple days, most of us will be wrapping gifts. Unfortunately, gift wrap can add on quite a few dollars to the cost of a gift. So here's a couple suggestions to save money to be able to spend it on what's more important . . . the gift!

The Dollar Store
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The dollar store is a great place to buy all your present wrapping needs! It's ridiculous the cost of wrapping paper at regular stores . . . it's paper for goodness sake, how much can it cost to make?! And don't even get me started on the Hallmark store. That place is like walking into an overpriced nightmare. Why spend a lot of money on something that will just be ripped up and thrown away? What else do I need to say?

Reuse
Now I'm not going to tell you to reuse wrapping paper. Nobody likes the person that carefully opens their gift and folds the paper neatly -- tear it up! (It should be dollar paper so it doesn't matter!)

Gift bags on the other hand, now those can definitely be reused! They're a double-edged sword because they're the easy way out and I don't think they look as cool, but sometimes it's necessary and I also love the fact that they can be reused for many years.

Tissue paper is something that most people don't think about reusing. But in gift bags, there are often many pieces of tissue paper that go unharmed. I just make sure there are no tears in them and then fold them up nicely. You can even keep them with the bag they came in since they probably are a nice color match and then you already have it all ready to go!

You can usually get a clothing box with your purchase from the store for free, just add some ribbons to it. These can also be reused if you receive some with your gifts!

Bows and ribbons can also be reused. Fabric ribbons are great because they can be reused for many years. But even the paper stick on bows can be used more than once. If it isn't sticky anymore, just roll up a piece of scotch tape to stick it on!

Other Materials
Now I don't normally do this because I do like wrapping paper and gift bags, but especially if you have some eco-friendly people that you need to wrap gifts for, think about using other materials that you would normally be throwing out like newspaper and magazines. I've also seen paper and plastic bags cleverly used. If you quilt or do other sewing projects and have leftover pieces of fabric, this can be used to wrap gifts in. Also, instead of using a gift bag, think about using something that can be used for other purposes afterwards like a jar or basket. Get creative! Let me know of any other neat ideas!